Heard my friend's system, thinking of leaving hifi

Portugal11 said:
"Does anyone have any suggestions about any changes I could make to my system to start working towards getting to that sound? I would say that first the speakers would have to go. Something "fuller" than the 2-ways I currently have. Perhaps something with powered woofers? His sytem seemed to present all frequencies in a balanced manner. Mine seems a bit thin in comparison and certainly lacks the lower end. Any suggestions would be appreciated... "

You've got a good sized room, so the speaker changes mentioned and/or a subwoofer WILL make a significant different; HOWEVER, you'll need to properly place the speakers to get the most out of them. A precision Sumiko speaker set will all open up your speakers dramatically.

Read my review in the Review section. The speaker set will make your speakers sound as if they doubled in size and yet the midrange, imaging and transparency will improve by several orders of magnitude and you'll listen at level 20% to 30% higher without strain. Your wife will even like you system and want to sit down and listen.

The Sumiko set aims to minimize intermodulation distortion between the speakers. Give the size of your room and assuming reasonable furnishings, you probably need no room treatment. (Still, that will depend on where the speakers end up, hardness of floors, etc.).

If you need to move in stages and can't afford new speakers right now, then do the speaker set first, then add a sub and then upgrade the speakers (if you still want to).

This IS THE MAGIC sauce. Find a Sumiko dealer in you area and beg him to do a set. (You'll have to pay something, most likely since you don't own Sumiko distributed speakers, but it'll be worth every penny).

Dave

Please, a better description of the room. The room is the most important part of any system. Unfortunately, it’s also the most ignored. If the room is not properly tuned, and the system is not properly setup, you can put a $200,000 system in it and still not reach audio nirvana.

Yes Active Speakers can indeed surprise you that much!! No passive crossovers and dramatically reduced IMD distortion and huge dynamics is like having a veil removed from the sound compared to passive speakers.

Of course it is not for everyone. Many people prefer a more relaxed or refined presentation or warm presentation then the dynamic, transparent and raw (sometimes harsh depending on the source material) sound of Actives. Judging from your observation of your friends system - you are the type person who likes "precision" - Active Speakers is the way to go and there are more models to chose from every year...PMC, Genelecs, Meridian, B&O, ATC, NHT, Adam, K&H....etc.

Anyway....IMHO it is highly likely that your friend's Meridian ACTIVE Speakers is the key to what you liked and heard.

I have a rich friend who dropped the big bucks on the digital Meridian system.

If it cheers you up at all, I thought it was terrible, and could put together a much better system from Audiogon classified ads for $5-$10K, no problem.

Don't give up. Your experience is all part of the wonderful process.

Yo,Portugall1; we have a few things in common. I live in an apt for one. I have a "L" shaped room and a tv 'tween the speakers.(huge tv). Over the years I have had several rude thumps just like yours and,yes,I remember each one and what components contributed as thumps.
While you have many tips from the members it's hard to have that which is many times over your budget.( I assume)
Life is full of compromises we all have to live with; even those that are only about audio equipment. And like somebody has already mentioned;just enjoy the music, and what pieces you can afford.